The present invention relates to a two-part cooking vessel grip, particularly suitable for use as a lid grip.
As is known, difficulty is encountered in producing cooking vessel grips which, in addition to good mechanical and thermal characteristics (in particular, mechanical strength, wear resistance, thermal insulation, and high-temperature resistance), are also easy to produce and form into complex shapes. This is particularly true of lid grips, which must comprise a connecting portion fitted to the lid, and a grip portion projecting from the connecting portion. Such a conformation poses specific manufacturing problems and, generally speaking, does not permit straightforward, low-cost production of complex shapes, which is why known grips are normally defined by monolithic bodies of thermosetting polymer materials, e.g. with an extended phenol-formaldehyde resin base. Though good thermal insulators, such materials are mechanically poor and, in particular, are difficult to form into complex shapes and to color.
On the other hand, grips cannot be made entirely of thermoplastic polymer materials which, though easy to work and color, do not have the necessary thermal characteristics to be used in direct contact with very hot surfaces (such as lids).
Difficulty is also encountered in producing two-part grips. Though grips are known in which a monolithic body of thermosetting resin is combined with an insert of thermoplastic material, it is not easy to ensure efficient connection of parts made of different, and normally incompatible, materials: known connecting systems (mechanical using screws or rivets, co-molding, etc.) are complicated and relatively expensive, and anyway make it difficult to form highly complex shapes, particularly the lid grip design referred to above.
It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks, and in particular to provide a cooking vessel grip, particularly suitable for use as a lid grip, which can be made simply and relatively cheaply from two different materials to obtain aesthetic and functional designs otherwise unachievable using conventional materials.
According to the present invention, there is provided a two-part cooking vessel grip, particularly suitable for use as a lid grip, as claimed in claim 1.
The grip according to the invention, which is particularly suitable for use as a lid grip, can be made easily and relatively cheaply in a wide range of shapes, colors, color combinations and aesthetic designs in general, while at the same time being functional, strong and long-lasting, and providing for good thermal insulation.